Last day in the life of a father
by Chiara Cadrich
Summary: Elrond remembers Estel's maturity. My participation in March 2016 Teitho! challenge : Life and death .
**Last day in the life of a father**

.oOo.

 _My participation in March 2016 Teitho! challenge : « Life and death »_

.oOo.

Twilight lit ablaze the cataract of the Hidden Valley. The Last Homely House, hanging at the alabaster cliffs, shone beneath the tears dispensed by a soft sleet.

Leaving the porch of his home, Elrond stepped on the pristine marble, and carefully watched the fire trails that unraveled in the purple sky. A day of blood and iron was ending. The rumor of the battle had flown to him on the wings of the north winds.

Threatening doubts had loomed for a moment over the riven dale, but they were three warriors, striding down its green slopes. Elrond, reassured, stepped forward to meet them, his dark silk robe flapping in the evening breeze.

His twins, ruthless hunters and banes of the Trollshaws orcs, sustained a young man, strongly built but with a youthful face. None seemed hurt, yet a serious concern marked the beautiful faces of the two elders, when they bowed before the Master of Rivendell.

\- "Ada! Estel raised to the powerful captains of yore! Said Elrohir. His judgment in battle is as quick as his eyes are sharp at shooting. So far Elladan and I have protected and steered him, as you had assigned us to. Yet today, without his value and might, our company would have been destroyed. The goblins have thwarted our ambush and taken our squad in a pincer movement. But Estel, assigned to the rear with a few archers, caught it in time, and directed against the attackers with deadly determination. "

The young man still seemed in shock from his exploits. Elrond thanked his sons with a grateful nod and led his protégé:

\- "Your mother will be proud to see you walk so early in the glorious footsteps of your forefathers! But I see you are bearing mental scars from the struggle…

\- This is the first time I feared for my brothers' lives, which I had to defend with sword... During the fight, I did not have time to hesitate, but now, I cannot stop thinking about it, my hands are shaking, I cannot help myself...

\- So that's it... Looking into the eye of the enemy actually makes him a being of flesh and blood. Indeed you had to go through this...

\- Yet I should bear no remorse - these orcs are a vile vermin, fit only for extermination..."

As they were walking under the marble friezes of the great hall, Elrond seriously considered the young man:

\- "Even as vile creatures deserve that their death is not a trivial act of eradication. The unease you are experimenting is healthy, I wish you to remember it throughout your life! "

In passing, Estel gazed at the shards of Narsil, memories of a fallen hope that rested there, waiting for a brighter end.

Chanting a linod1, Elrond gently took in his hands, these of the young man, who finally managed to calm down:

\- "The life of a Dunadan cannot be reduced to slay whoever, whom he denies the right to live. Harden your heart, without letting it fall into indifference... Besides, orcs were not always what they have become..."

Estel now breathed more freely:

\- "What do you mean, Father?"

Elrond gave a fatalistic sigh before answering:

\- "Our oldest tales report that orcs and goblins are descendants of elves, horribly perverted by the dark enemy of the world. For evil, merely mocking or corrupting, cannot create life itself. "

In his apartment, Elrond rekindled the fire, made Estel lie down and cared for him. Perplexed, the young man asked:

\- "So, are orcs immortal, like elves?

\- Is this really essential for you? Do not be too quick to envy the Elven immortality. You ignore the long defeat of painful centuries..."

The master of Rivendell, annoyed for a moment, got up to take some time to think. He opened a carved chest. A fragrance of ripe fruit spread in the room, evoking the sweetness and security of a preserved home. From an amber vial, he poured a few crystal drops in a silver cup, which he handed to the young man. Peering out the window, beyond dusk, to the age-old home of his kin, he continued:

\- "The tragedy of Númenor the Downfallen, teaches us the price of unholy aspirations... But above all, you must already know that any gift falls in return of a burden. For the elves, announced by the first theme of the Great Music before Melkor's marring2, essence precedes existence.

\- Ada, you are still speaking in riddles!

\- Master questioner, when asking about the meaning of life and death, one must expect tough answers!3", Elrond tossed with a knowing smile.

Considering Estel's tired look, the master of Imladris still consented to some explanation:

\- "Elven nature, inseparable from the circles of this world, keeps them here, regardless of their bodies' destruction. Whether they like it or not, they remain, forever with its growing corruption and their own diminution."

Thoughtful, Estel let the miruvor4 flow down his throat. Within moments, the weariness of his limbs and heart faded away. Thus the young man asked for more:

\- "And what about men, Ada?

\- As for men, conversely, existence precedes essence.5 Although foretold in the choir of the Ainur in the last theme, they appeared after a marring inflicted to the world had altered its intent. The chaos of this cacophony left them free to control their destiny as individuals and as peoples.

Thus men forge their nature, invent their behaviour, shape their essence during their existence. The destination of the minds of men after the loss of their body is not known by the elves, but it is definitely determined by the nature, that each of them forges until his departure.

\- So I would be free in my short life of man? But are you not free too?

\- I am free of my actions, but the meaning of my life, inscribed entirely within the limits of this world, has relentlessly imposed on me.

\- But did you not choose to become who you are?

\- Unlike young humans, who appear to assert their potential destinies when they reach physical maturity, young elves feel sooner or later overtaken by a destiny that is imposed on them. When I felt the irresistible call, I knew I was an elf, unlike my brother Elros. Since then, I have been working, though without final hope, to preserve the grace of my people."

Estel remained silent, somewhat oppressed by the evocation of a pluri-millenary destiny. Satisfied, Elrond, who was carefully watching him, added lightly:

\- "But elven lives still offer surprises, challenges and huge rewards, such as educating a deeply unpredictable young human!"

Estel smiled at his adoptive father.

\- "Ada, you expect me to take my destiny in hand. But do you see any hope under the sky, facing our enemies in this age of the world?

\- Why do you think you were named "Estel"?6 Everything is possible in the age of men... provided it happens to come!

\- So, Father, I believe that the Elven part of my inheritance has prevailed, because destiny already smiled to me!"

The young man refrained to say more, gazing beyond the mountains to the beautiful Lothlorien, where Evenstar had returned.

Master Elrond perceived, in those steel gray eyes lost in the stars, an inflexible determination and a foolish hope. The venerable half-elf knew only one lever, one mobile, capable of imparting such faith, human or elvish...

Then Elrond saw that this young man, whom he loved like a son, would soon, transfigured by love, rob him of the grace of his fatherhood days.

.oOo.

 **NOTES**

1 Elven verses, charms or spells.

2 The greatest of the Valar, Melkor, rebelled against his peers and the One God, Eru. He perverted the song of creation (The Great Music, told in the tale Ainulindalë, by Pr. Tolkien). Then he, stole the Silmarils and led the world to a long abominable war.

3 And this applies also to the contest manager! (;))

4 Cordial from Imladris.

5 Theory borrowed from existencialism.

6 Sindarin Estel stands for Hope.


End file.
